Catch Her
by GenericDude
Summary: The recurring dream: the only realm in which Shovel Knight can attempt to fix the pain of his loss. To see his beloved one more time, time and time again. As enemies swarm him and time slows, he leaps and reaches out for her, desperately hoping that this time, he'll truly catch her. Oneshot, Shovel Knight - Shield Knight


_Catch her…_

I started to open my eyes. Sheer white light broke its way through my eyelids and blinded my whole vision.

Where could this be? My campfire was nowhere in sight. I realized that I was not lying down on the floor, but stood firmly on my feet. My shovel not laying beside me, but sheathed across my back.

My eyes quickly adjusted to the suddenness of the light, but the surroundings still yielded no clues to me. The Tower of Fate was nowhere to be seen. Neither were the trees of the forest of which I had believed to be camping in. No, this was a new place, somewhere sacred, somewhere only I could go and remain undisturbed. This place, with its unyielding, vast emptiness, was a chamber of peace.

 _Catch her…_

I could hear the whispering of a voice through the cold air. I looked around. I was still met with the same great whiteness that enveloped me from every corner of my vision. It was such a strange place to be, but I felt no eagerness or desire to question it.

I looked up. I cannot say why I looked up, but I felt an instinct to do so. It was as if another entity were guiding my movements. I knew that something would appear to me from the void sky, but such knowledge was not given to me by what I could sense. Such an instinct came from deep within me. I fixed my gaze to the sky.

Amidst the sea of white, I saw a small dot of red. My heart raised in speed, beating against my breastplate as I begun to contemplate the impossible.

This is the beginning of a dream that I have encountered numerous times in my life. So numerous, I believe I have lost count. It is a recurring dream; even before The Enchantress placed her foul grip upon the land and the Order of No Quarter wrought havoc, I have dreamt this dream. I have dreamt it by the campfire, I have dreamt it in the beds of mildewy inns, I have dreamt it in my own bed back at the old cottage when I used to till the soil in my sorrow. I dreamt it the very night I lost **her.**

And I am beyond convinced that these dreams occur to me because of her.

 _Shield Knight._

As I stood in the sea of white, my gaze fixed towards the lone red star in the blank sky, I knew it was her. So many times before, she has appeared to me in this way. My partner in crime, my beloved; was this my body's way of grieving? To conjure up this dream for me so I can see her one last time, time and time again? To grant me the opportunity to reach my hands out and catch my falling star?

Through the whiteness, my enemies started to appear. Rats attached to propellers, Viking-like warriors armed with spears, armored knights, conjurers; all foes that I have faced in reality before. They all emerged, all yelling and screaming, all yearning for my blood. They knew not of the woman falling from the sky. They used to be so few in number, but in this very moment, they came at me from all angles like a swarm. I readied my shovel.

As they flung themselves towards me like rabid dogs, I swung and struck them away with rattling speed. I ran for space amidst the mad crowd and shot a glimpse to the sky. She had become slightly clearer; her large shield became visible from the sky as she fell closer to the ground. More foes faced me; more fell to the blade of my digging implement. The swarm grew thicker and thicker; I continued to fight back and look to the sky. One glance and I could see her smaller shield. The next glance, I could make out the intricacies of her armor. As the swathes of adversaries challenged me, I begun to feel suffocated. My abilities to maneuver became smaller and smaller. Avenues of escape and counterattack grew smaller in number.

It was always at this point when it begins to happen. Everything feels as if it is slowing down. My shovel moves through the air as I swipe with a slow, graceless drag. I watch it crack against the bodies of the small, brass plates knights who try to strike at me, flinging them backwards, arms flailing and unbalanced. My ears feel like they fill with water and muffle the sounds of the shouts and screams around me. I try with all my force to bring speed to my strikes, but the very whiteness beneath me siphons my strength and leaves me as slow as my weapon. Consequently, the enemies around me become slower as well. The dream feels like a cruel game; how long can I survive against this mob? How many foes must be thrown at me to make it crystal clear that my love for Shield Knight is undying? And my desires to catch her from the sky are also as such?

Unease and defeat creeps in to my mind when I realise they will not stop. I strain my eyes and see from the distance the crowds of enemies that I try so much in vain to ward off. They will continue and continue until I am no more, and then continue even further beyond that. I have little space left around me; already all corners and places to run for me are covered. I am absolutely surrounded with no place to go.

No place but upwards.

I strain my head upwards and I see her once again, nearing the ground, also slowing to a crawl in the air. Her eyes were closed and her face, although partially hidden by the hunch of her head, was one of peace. They reminded me of all the times we would sleep beside each other in the open night after a long day of adventure. With a fireplace gently crackling beside us, it would bring me nothing but pure joy to see fatigue conquer her and to watch her eyes gently close and drag her away into a blissful sleep, immeasurably deep and distanced away from hectic lives we lead. Here and now, amidst this amphitheater of misfortune that closed around us, her eyes were filled with just as much peace.

Every time this happened in my dreams, be it a swarm of enemies or none, I felt an overwhelming sense of duty not to let that sleep be disturbed. For I knew that I had let Shield Knight down. When I lost her to that…accursed amulet, I never forgave myself. Today, I stand unforgiven, and will remain unforgiven. Perhaps this will last forever. But as long as I had an opportunity to show Shield Knight that I would never let her down again, I endeavored to break through the immobilization of this dream sequence and run towards her, leaping into the air and reaching my arm out, desperate to catch her and preserve the peace she had found in the sky. And it didn't matter how many times I dreamt this dream. It didn't matter how much would endeavor to stop me in my task. And I didn't care if this continued until the end of my own life.

I would catch her.

Having summoned the last of my quickly draining strength, I ran and leapt into the air as the last the ground below me was swallowed with the bodies of my enemies. They flew around me, desperate to take hold of me and foil my plan. Shield Knight continued to fall, albeit at a snail's pace now. As I reached further and further to the sky, we became feet, then inches closer.

With the metal plate at the tip of index finger just about to make contact with her, it was the one, final part of the dream were I could fool myself into thinking that it would _really_ happen this time.

The next thing I saw was the dying campfire set against a rising glow of the horizon. The sounds of waking birds gently eased their way through my helmet and into my ears. My dream had, once again, ended. It was natural to feel frustrated at this, and recently on this adventure, I would always take my frustration out on the campfire that I had so meticulously formed the previous night prior to my uneasy sleep.

I gazed at the rising sun, dimmed and blocked out by the omnipotent dark clouds that peppered the horizon. Amidst it all stood a tall tower. The Tower of Fate.

Did I catch her? It's a question I've asked myself a thousand times. Have I ever caught her? Lord knows I've tried each and every time. When you realize that you love someone, you would do anything just to add the slightest quality to his or her life. Even if I meant nothing in the eyes of the world, even if I were a worthless fool, the possibility of improving her life for just one second was enough for me to dedicate it all for her. And so even if I never knew the outcome of my dream, I knew that at least every single time, from a thousand attempts or more, I tried.

At this stage, all I can do now is try.

As I looked towards the Tower of Fate, I allowed the dream one final thought before I readied my shovel and continued towards it. Shield Knight was alive, even if only I felt it to be true. She was alive, and she was in that tower, somehow, somewhere. Knowing the power of The Enchantress, anything would happen. The world would come to an end for all I knew.

But if that were to be the case…

If the world falls down, and everything were to fall with it…

I will catch her.


End file.
